


Dance With Me

by SCphantom



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Carmivy, Costume Parties & Masquerades, F/F, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, NOT COOL, Post-Canon, Post-Season 4, Swearing, actual carmivy this time fellas, also, i really don't think zack and ivy's parents were great okay?, implied/referenced abandoned children, leaving your found family with a note?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:49:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28871847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SCphantom/pseuds/SCphantom
Summary: "It had been eight months, two weeks, and four days since Ivy had last talked to Carmen Sandiego. Not that she was keeping track of those things anyway."After the events of VILE falling, and going to work for ACME, Ivy still can't help but feel like something is off. Like something is... missing.An assignment at a fancy masquerade party brings up old thoughts and unfinished business, because it hurts being left by someone you love.
Relationships: Ivy & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep, Ivy & Zack (Carmen Sandiego), Ivy/Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep, Julia "Jules" Argent & Ivy
Comments: 16
Kudos: 66





	Dance With Me

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what is with me but I saw the ending to this season, and just went 'uh yeah, not enough hurt/comfort'. So here's my version of what happens post-show with Carmivy endgame.

It had been eight months, two weeks, and four days since Ivy had last talked to Carmen Sandiego. Not that she was keeping track of those things anyway. It had been seven months, a week, and five days since Ivy had spoken with Shadowsan, exclusively about the whereabouts of Carmen. Shadowsan had assured the young woman that her friend was, in fact, safe. That Carmen was working on picking off the last of VILE’s operatives, and that she had finally met her mother. That her mother’s house in Buenos Aires was where the crimson shadow had hung her hat. 

Ivy had, obviously, been happy for Carmen. Having searched the larger part of the world for her family, Carmen had found her mother, and was doing just fine. Carmen needed to go and find her family on her own, to find herself on her own, and Ivy was happy that Carmen had found what she had been looking for.

Ivy though?

Ivy felt that she was still looking. 

Truth be told, working at ACME was great. She had revealed in the wisdom and knowledge of Julia, laughed at how much of an idiot Chase was because seriously, how did he ever get anywhere near Carmen? Of course, watching Zack work on things that he was truly passionate about made Ivy smile. Watching Zack move in those ACME cars was nothing short of hypnotizing. A real getaway driver her brother was. 

She had remembered the first mission Zack was sent on without her. He was sent to San Francisco with Devineaux, which made Ivy extremely nervous. Zack promised Ivy that he wouldn’t let Devineaux drive, and that he wouldn’t end up at the bottom of San Francisco Bay. The two men worked surprisingly well together, Julia commenting about how two negatives sometimes make a positive, which Ivy laughed at. Zack did hold up his promise, driving the older agent up and down the streets of the coastal city, earning Devineaux’s full respect. Zack talked about that mission for no less than a week, making Ivy smile in pride every time Zack’s eyes twinkled with passion. 

Going on missions with her brother was great, and going on the occasional mission partnered with Julia was a great time as well. There was just something that wasn’t right about it. Something was different.

Because it is different, a voice would whisper in the back of her mind, because she’s not here with you.

A crumpled letter in the drawer of Ivy’s desk burned its way through her mind, accompanied with another harsh whisper, she didn’t even say goodbye.

It was incredibly selfish of Ivy, she knew. To fault Carmen for leaving the tight knit team she had built. Carmen was probably tremendously happy where she was, with everything she ever wanted in life. Her real family, and VILE gone. What Carmen wanted just didn’t involve Ivy, and the redhead just needed to accept that.

So what was it that Ivy wanted?

Sixteen year old Ivy would have said something along the lines of wanting her brother to be happy. When their parents left, the only thing on young Ivy’s mind was to make sure her brother had a good life. Well, mission accomplished. Zack was satisfied driving fast cars and catching bad guys, he was grown up now. As was Ivy, but she still didn’t know how to want anything for herself. The banged up car in her garage told her she wanted to work on cars, the ACME pen in her suit pocket told her to stay at ACME, the little infinite roller coaster perched on her desk told her to be creative with her engineering skills, and the crumpled letter with Carmen’s handwriting in her desk drawer told her she wanted closure with her old boss. With her… friend?

Was Carmen even her friend anymore? Did Carmen even think about her?

There were those selfish thoughts again. 

Ivy closed her eyes to clear her head, before opening them to gaze at the empty case report that was sitting on her desk. She had been trying to fill this stupid paper out for the better part of the day. It was standard procedure to fill out a report for any mission, and this was for the latest mission she had been on. She and Zack were sent to catch an ex-VILE operative who was planning a theft at the Smithsonian in New York. When the siblings got there, the operative was tied up, but the Hope Diamond Necklace was nowhere to be found. She and Zack had split up to look for it. 

Ivy’s heart beat faster thinking about what had happened next. 

She had rounded the corner to the exhibit where the necklace was housed. There, less than six feet away from her, Carmen stood, gently placing the diamond necklace back in its case. The sight of her old boss knocked the wind out of Ivy’s lungs, leaving her standing these speechless and frozen. Carmen had turned around, locking eyes with Ivy. Moments passed as Ivy swam through eyes so grey they looked lavender. Carmen had said nothing, just looked at Ivy. With a smirk and a wink, Carmen pulled herself out of the building, using the same grappling hook that Ivy had designed for her. Then she was gone.

The empty paper glowered at Ivy, chastising her for not being able to do the rather simple task. The redhead sighed and tapped her pen on the paper, trying to focus and not let her thoughts run away again. Someone timidly clearing their throat in front of Ivy’s desk snapped her out of her haze. Julia awkwardly stood at the other end of Ivy’s desk, holding some files and adjusting her glasses.

“Oh, hello Ms Argent.” Ivy greeted, slipping the blank paper in her desk drawer to think about later. 

Julia smiled at the younger agent, “Ivy, you once helped me steal priceless Medici gowns from mind controlled models. For the last time, you can call me Julia.”

Ivy laughed at the memory of Julia being so flustered by Carmen and the rest of Team Red.

“Okay, Julia.” Ivy’s eyes landed on the files in Julia’s arms, “what did you need?”

“Oh yes,” Julia placed the files in front of Ivy, “new mission. I’m assigned to work with you.”

Ivy nodded in agreement, flipping open the first file to look at the specifics. 

“A Masquerade?” Ivy snorted, “people still do these?”

Julia nodded, “they’re actually quite popular among the wealthy.”

The older agent’s eyes became distracted with the little roller coaster on Ivy’s desk. Curiously, she pushed the cart forward, watching it as it looped around and around.

“Well, I only own regular clothes. This is pretty much the nicest thing I own.” Ivy commented, amused how engrossed Julia was in the looping roller coaster. When the french woman didn’t respond to Ivy’s concerns, the redhead reached forward to stop the cart and place it back to the top of the arch.

“It’s an infinite roller coaster, it won’t ever stop unless someone stops it,” Ivy explained, “when do I need a suit by?”

Julia, snapped out of the haze from watching the cart go around and around, finally processed Ivy’s concerns about wardrobe.

“Oh, well since we need to be covert, the agency will be providing us with dresses to match the dress code for the event.” Julia flipped to the page of the file where it explained the dress code. 

Ivy briefly skimmed the code for the evening and sighed, “Women must wear dresses? Come on.”

“I know,” Julia agreed, “I’m more of a slacks person myself as well.”

Ivy shifted uncomfortably in her seat, tugging on the hem of her skirt. Skirts being the uniform for female agents really grinded Ivy’s gears. They were just so uncomfortable, and it was totally unfair that she had to wear a skirt while Chief got to wear slacks.

“It’s just for one evening,” Ivy reasoned with herself, “I’ll read the rest before this weekend, thank you Julia.”

Julia nodded in response before moving to leave the office Ivy shared with Zack. Before she reached the door, she paused and turned to look at Ivy. Julia opened her mouth, before closing it, then opening it again.

“You know, if you ever need help filling out one of those case report forms, I can help.” Julia offered politely.

The fact that the dark haired woman had noticed Ivy struggling with the form made Ivy blush heavily. Partially because she was embarrassed Julia thought she didn’t understand the rather simple form, mostly because she thought she would have to tell Julia why she was having such a difficult time filling it out. 

“Oh, that.” Ivy struggled to find a reasonable excuse that didn’t make her sound like a complete idiot, “I’ve just been thinking about a lot lately.”

Julia nodded slowly, “honestly, so have I,” she admitted.

Ivy raised her eyebrows in surprise, “really?”

“I’ve been thinking about what happens next,” Julia admitted, “the list of ex-VILE operatives is getting shorter. Most have been put away, or have been put in a rehabilitating program. Once the list reaches zero, I’m not sure what we do?”

To be honest, Ivy hadn’t really thought of that. She had always figured that ACME would just turn into a place to catch all thieves, not just super thieves. Even though Julia had worked for Interpol, Ivy supposed going back to catching run of the mill thieves after VILE wouldn’t be as fulfilling for such a smart woman. 

“So what are you thinking?” Ivy asked.

“I’m thinking…” Julia trailed off, “maybe I’ll go back to teaching. The University I worked for is very eager to have me back one day. I think after the list reaches zero, that’s what I do.”

Ivy smiled, happy that the woman she had grown to know was going to be doing what she loved forever, “I’m happy for you.”

Julia smiled, “I haven’t really voiced these plans to anyone. Talking about them makes me think that they’ll be real.” Julia sighed in relief, “what about you?”

The wind got knocked right out of Ivy’s sails again. What was she going to do? There was that question again. What did she want?

The cars called to her tantalizingly, the small roller coaster beckoned her, the ACME issued shoes she wore seemed to stay firmly planted to the ground, and the letter in her drawer burned a hole straight through her heart.

“I- I don’t know.” Ivy finally settled on. It was the truth, she truly didn’t know what she wanted. The more she thought about it, she never knew what she wanted.

Julia just nodded her head, almost knowingly, “well, the University I worked at had a rather robust engineering department. It’s in England, so they speak English. If you ever consider that route, I can put in a good word for you.”

Ivy smiled, truly touched by Julia’s offer. “Thank you Julia, I’ll… I will think about it.”

“Okay,” Julia smiled back, “review that file, I’ll see you Friday to prep. Mission is Saturday night.”

Friday came and Ivy went over the mission with Julia to make sure the plan was set in stone. The mission itself was rather straightforward. The curators of the Louvre were holding a fancy masquerade ball for their sponsors, to celebrate the finding of a set of jewelry that once belonged to the French Royal family. The set included a golden necklace, tiara, ring, and set of earrings adorned and embellished with, hilariously, bright red rubies. An ex-VILE operative was set to steal them to try and rebuild the fallen organization. Julia and Ivy would go to the party, find the operative, and quietly bring him in without the members of the party knowing anything was amiss. The party would go smoothly, the sponsors of the museum would be dazzled, and the set of jewelry would be safe.

Easy peasy.

Ivy wrapped up talking with her work partner, and went to the ACME tailors to pick up her dress for the evening. It still peeved Ivy that she had to wear some fancy dress while she was working, but it was just for one night. The tailor working asked Ivy for her name, before turning to the clothing rack and wordlessly grabbing a grey garment bag. The tailor handed Ivy the bag with a short ‘try it on and make sure it fits before tomorrow’ before going back to working on her sewing machine. Ivy did as the woman had instructed when she got back to her and Zack’s apartment.

Those ACME tailors take no prisoners. It could be pent up creativity on the tailor’s part, but the seamstress went all out on this dress.

The dress was a dark teal green fabric that shifted to a lighter green as Ivy moved. It was rather long, but thankfully not floor length, something Ivy was nervous about tripping on. The dress stopped right at her ankles, showing off shinny green wedge heels. Probably the best part of the dress, were the individual ivy leaves sewn to the waistline, with rows of ivy leaves falling down to the hem. Top of the dress was a halter, but the strap that wrapped from the middle of the dress around her neck was also covered in ivy leaves. 

Ivy stared at herself in the mirror of her room, almost unable to recognize herself. She momentarily wondered if this would have been what she looked like if she had gone to her high school prom. No, she probably would have worn a suit. It was hard for Ivy to almost admit that the dress did look good on her, the greenish teal complimented her orange-red hair well, something that was rare. Her eyes darted over every inch of the dress, to her freckle covered shoulders, to her messy hair, then down to her hands, which carried the mask for the evening. 

The mask was the same colour as the dress. Interestingly enough, it had ivy leaves sewn on it too. A row covered the top of the mask where her left eye would go, and all over the side where her right eye would go. An interesting design choice, seeing as she needs to see out of her mask, but whatever.

“Hey Ivy, the stove isn’t turning on… wow.” Zack burst into Ivy’s room unceremoniously.

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you to knock.” Ivy rolled her eyes and turned around to face her brother. Zack was staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face, “if you make fun of this I’m punting you into next week.”

Zack shook his head, coming back to the real world, “no, no. I’m not, I’ve just never really seen you this fancy before.”

“A first time for everything,” Ivy commented. 

Wordlessly, Ivy held out her mask for Zack, telling him with no words that she needed his help putting it on. Zack moved into the room towards his sister, fulfilling the silent request of his sister.

“They really heard your name was Ivy and went nuts huh?” Zack secured the leaf adorned mask behind his sister’s ears.

Ivy laughed, “I guess so.”

Once the mask was secured in place, Ivy turned to face her brother. As she suspected, she could not see anything through her right eye. 

“Can you see out of that thing?” Zack asked, seemingly reading Ivy’s mind.

“Only out of my left eye,” she replied, “how do I look?”

“I would look way better than you in that dress.”

Ivy punched Zack in the arm with a laugh.

“I’m kidding,” Zack smiled, “you look great.”

A sudden wave of nausea hit Ivy as she remembered her conversation with Juila a couple days ago. Remembering how she felt about going in a different direction from ACME. All the possibilities of life swarmed around in her mind like ants to sugar. The more she thought about it, the more she hadn’t thought about how she would tell Zack about possibly leaving. Even though she wanted to stay by her little brother’s side as long as she could, a part of her knew that wasn’t always going to be the case. Now, it seemed for the first time, they wanted different things. They were on different paths for the first time in Ivy’s life.

“Zack,” Ivy paused, unsure how to approach this conversation, “are you happy?”

Zack’s eyebrows scrunched together, “like in general?”

“Yeah, like at ACME and stuff.” Ivy clarified, suddenly nervous about his response. 

“I am,” Zack almost immediately replied, so sure of himself, “I have a great job, that’s rewarding, that I’m good at. I have great friends, and I have you.”

Ivy chewed her lip and turned to face the mirror again. How much she wished to be content in her life as Zack was. When she was younger, Ivy was sure that Zack would be the one to bounce around, not be content to do one thing. Oh how times have changed.

“Why do you ask Ives?” Zack questioned, uncharacteristically gently.

Ivy was unsure how to reply, how to let her brother know something was missing. Selfish. She just shook her head.

“Are… you happy?” Zack pressed, his hand resting on Ivy’s shoulder gently.

Ivy looked up into the mirror. She gazed at her own reflection, at her brother’s reflection. He looked really concerned, making Ivy feel guilty for even bringing it up in the first place. His eyes were the same colour as hers, and every time she looked at him she saw a little bit of their father in his eyes. He was also so tall, taller than her. He had grown so much, so much older.

Where had the time gone?

“I’m not sure Zack,” Ivy finally admitted, “it’s not you. I’m always so grateful to have you in my life. This is just a feeling I haven’t been able to shake… like something’s, I don’t know-”

“Missing?” Zack filled in.

“I- yeah.” Ivy sighed, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Zack insisted, “I’m glad you told me.”

Ivy felt a small bit of weight lift from her shoulders. She didn’t normally talk about how she felt to many people, but she would admit that talking about that did bring a little relief to her swirling mind.

“Can we… just circle back to this later?” Ivy asked, “I want to talk about it with you, I do. But, tomorrow is going to be a lot…”

“It’s okay.” Zack said, “I get it.”

Quietly, Zack made work of removing Ivy’s mask. The woman turned around to retrieve the removed mask from her brother, but was met with a tight hug instead.

“Promise to be safe, and come home?” Zack asked, words slightly muffled as his face pressed into the top of his older sister’s head.

“I promise.” Ivy replied, burying her face in his shoulder. Ever since they started working with Carmen on capers, they would promise to come back to each other, like they always have. They were the only family they had left.

Every time Ivy had to go to one of these fancy parties, she felt way in over her head. Nervously, she fidgeted with the earpiece perched in her left ear. Julia sat next to Ivy in the cab, her dress equally as intricate and detailed as Ivy’s. Julia’s was dark blue at the top of a sweetheart neckline, fading to a light blue at the bottom. A tasteful slit ran its way up to her knee, and the dress as a whole looked like a night sky. Her mask was the same dark blue as the top of her dress, with sparkly crystals that looked like stars intricately placed around her eyes. 

Both of her eyes were able to see out of the mask, Ivy noticed with a pang of envy. 

Before she could lament to herself how distracting it was to only see out of one eye, the cab pulled to a stop. They were there.

Julia paid and tipped the cab driver with her fluent French, and joined Ivy on the sidewalk in front of the building where the faint sound of classical music could be heard. 

“Okay, you remember the plan?” Julia asked, voice echoing in Ivy’s ear through the earpiece.

“Find the bad guy, contact you, grab him, leave.” Ivy echoed, “good luck. Stay safe.”

“You too.” 

With that, the two went up to the large doors and showed the guard at the front their tickets. The wide double doors opened, and Ivy felt as though she had stepped onto the set of a movie. All sorts of people lined the walls in incredibly intricate dresses and masks, chatting and laughing in French. Couples swooshed around the dance floor, dress shoes leading as swishing skirts followed. The chandeliers hung above gave a warm yellow light to the party, with the crystals hanging below casting brilliant rainbows from the soft light. 

Ivy looked next to her to comment to Julia how pretty it was, but she was already gone. Probably to chat with party goers covertly. As Ivy heard bits of conversation in a language she didn’t understand, she realized that it was going to be a bit harder to blend in than she thought. Deciding to cover as much ground as she could, Ivy decided to weave through the crowd to the back of the room, where a large staircase brought guests up to a balcony that wrapped around and overlooked the ballroom. As she approached the large staircase, a figure appeared, and made Ivy stop dead in her tracks. 

Auburn hair caught the warm light of the chandeliers. Half of the person’s hair was tied up into a neat bun, while the other half was curled intricately, cascading gently down to the person’s hips. Warm brown skin stood out beautifully against the white and beige marble of the staircase. The person’s lips were the same warm red colour of the person’s dress.

Ivy had seen that dress before.

She had been there when it was purchased.

_ “What do you think about this one?” Carmen came spinning out of the dressing room, smiling as the trumpet skirt twirled with her. _

_ Ivy would have been lying if she had said anything other than the dress was absolutely stunning. The dress was Carmen’s signature red colour and was mermaid shaped, so it hung to every curve of the latina’s body. The neckline was a low sweetheart that Ivy thought was just downright cruel. The dress had off the shoulder sleeves that hung gracefully on Carmen’s toned biceps. Black mesh with gold embellishments formed the long sleeve from where the red sleeves ended. The same gold embellishments adorned the skirt of the dress, making the skirt sparkle as Carmen stepped and spun in it.  _

_ Ivy blushed and swallowed, insisting to herself that she was ‘looking respectfully’. _

_ “It looks great Carmen, but why do you need it?” Ivy questioned from behind the magazine she had picked up to keep from looking at Carmen’s bare collar bones, “it’s pretty fancy for what we do.” _

_ “Because,” Carmen tipped the top of the magazine down so she could look at Ivy, “if the occasion ever arises, and we need to take care of business at a fancy event, I’ll have something to wear.” _

_ “Is that something they taught you in crime school?” Ivy questioned with a raised eyebrow. _

_ “Yes actually,” Carmen said, smoothing out a wrinkle in the skirt, “I learned a lot of things about fancy parties in Countess Cleo’s class.” _

_ “Like picking out the right fancy dress?” Ivy asked with a smirk, which Carmen returned. _

_ “Like waltzing, if you have to know,” Carmen grabbed Ivy’s hands and pulled her off of the couch, making the younger woman flush all over again, “here I’ll show you. Dance with me.” _

_ “W-wait!” Ivy stammered, pulling her hands from Carmen’s, “I don’t know how to dance.” _

_ Ivy knew that if her heart actually did skip a beat, she would die, but there were know other words to describe how it felt when Carmen gently took Ivy’s hands into her own, got close to her ear, and whispered, _

_ “I’ll lead.” _

Carmen had ended up purchasing that dress.

And now she was wearing it.

Right in front of Ivy. 

Before the redhead could even think about what she was doing, she turned on her heels and walked very quickly away from the staircase and into a hallway where she had remembered seeing a bathroom. While it was quiet in the lady’s room, the distant sound of French chatter was heard through her earpiece. Heart beating and face flushed, Ivy turned the earpiece off to try and think. 

Bracing herself on the sink, Ivy took in a deep breath because God Carmen still looked stunning in that dress. The thoughts of Carmen leaving her and Zack with a note had always distracted Ivy from how she really felt about the elusive thief. Seeing her in that dress, remembering how it felt to have Carmen’s hand at the small of her back, looking into those lavender eyes, it all reminded her of how she felt. 

That Ivy cared for Carmen in a way that… wasn’t just friendly. She may or may not have feelings for her old boss. Those feelings may or may not being, very romantic. It had scared Ivy when she realized it in Stockholm, Sweden, holding Carmen in her lap, the woman she cared so much about almost freezing to death. That she wouldn’t have been able to live fully if Carmen was gone, that the guilt of Ivy wearing Carmen’s coat while Carmen froze to death would have been too much to bear. 

A nagging voice in the back of Ivy’s mind told her that Carmen was the reason Ivy hadn’t been able to feel truly happy in this ACME life.

Another voice reminded her that Carmen left her.

Carmen was just trying to find herself, she needed to do that alone.

Ivy really loved her.

Carmen was happy now.

Why didn’t she say goodbye though?

“Excuse me, are you alright?”

Ivy’s mind screeched to a stop, the voice of someone so familiar yet so strange cutting her out of her thoughts. The ACME agent whirled around to face whoever was talking to her.

And there she was.

Carmen’s mask was her signature red colour, adorned with similar gold embellishments as her dress. A black veil that was attached to the mask fell over her left eye. Even behind the mask and the veil, Ivy could see that Carmen’s grey eyes held surprise and another emotion she couldn’t quite place. The two awkwardly stood in the bathroom staring at each other for what felt like eternity. Carmen was the one to break the silence.

“Ivy?” Carmen questioned, as if she couldn’t quite tell if the woman in front of her was real or not.

Panic overwhelmed Ivy as she remembered what she was thinking about before Carmen had asked her what was wrong. Two parts of Ivy wrestled with each other, one wanting to wrap Carmen in the strongest hug she could muster, the other egging her to leave and remember what she was here for. Eventually, as embarrassment and shame over wanting Carmen so much washed over her, the latter won out.

“I’m sorry, I’m busy.” Ivy dismissed, barely a whisper, before rushing past Carmen. The brush of her arm against Carmen’s as she left the ladies room sent electricity down her spine. 

With a heavy hand, the door to the ladies room swung open as Ivy walked down the hallway back to the party. Shakily, Ivy tried to turn her earpiece back on and place it back in her ear. She wanted to cry, to run back in and talk with her friend. That’s not what she was supposed to do right now, she had a job. Carmen didn’t need her, not like Ivy needed Carmen. 

Ivy swore to herself as she tried to switch the little earpiece back on. She normally had incredibly steady hands, but the rampant unresolved emotions revolving around the red clad thief made her shake more than an earthquake. 

Before she could manage getting the stupid earpiece switched back on, she felt a warm hand wrap around her wrist. Faster than light, Ivy was pulled through a door and into a dark room. Reacting on pure impulse, Ivy reached down to her calf where her ACME firearm was holstered, along with her ID card. In a moment, the barrel of her firearm was trained on her kidnapper’s chest. Or, at least, she thought it was the chest, it was rather dark in the room.

The dark figure in front of her reached towards the door frame, and flicked on the light. Ivy’s firearm was, to her absolute mortification, trained on Carmen Sandiego. Ivy sighed and reupholstered her firearm, knowing there wasn’t an actual threat to her safety.

It had been less than three minutes since Ivy had spoken to Carmen Sandiego. And now, as the auburn haired woman stared back at her, Ivy was about to reset the timer again.

“Carmen,” Ivy started, noting how wonderful her name felt on her tongue again, “I’m working.”

“So am I,” Carmen countered quickly. She paused, almost as if she really hadn’t planned to get that far, “I just… it’s been a long time since we’ve talked.”

Before she could stop herself, Ivy prattled, “it’s been eight months, three weeks, and one day, since we’ve last talked.” Ivy made a move for the door, “but who’s counting?”

Carmen moved between the door and Ivy again, “clearly you have Ivy.”

“So I have,” Ivy snapped, hating how angry she was getting. Sometimes it felt like she couldn’t help it, getting angry, her frustrations at Carmen, unceremoniously upping and leaving, slowly came bubbling up to the surface. In order from getting more upset, Ivy tried to go for the door again, “I have something to be doing.”

Carmen blocked the door again, moving to now be chest to chest with Ivy, “I know, it’s the same job I’m doing. We still have another half an hour or so till he gets here.”

“Great! Then let me go tell my partner that.” Ivy made an attempt for the door again, this time it was met with Carmen grabbing her bare forearms.

“Ivy? Why on Earth are you so upset?” Carmen begged Ivy, warm hands braced on Ivy’s freckled forearms.

Was she serious? Ivy fumed, why am I upset?

Like magic, Ivy was a hot headed sixteen year old whose parents had just abandoned her with her little brother in the middle of South Boston again. Angrily, she swatted Carmen’s warm hands off of her.

“Why am I upset? Are you kidding me? I thought we were a family.” Ivy spat, “I thought we were close, I told you about my parents. Zack doesn’t even know about some of the shit they’ve done to me, but I told _you_. You said that you wouldn’t ever do that, remember? I thought you were going to be there with us till the end of the line.” Ivy’s hands shook violently, she felt bad for dumping all of this out, but she couldn’t help it, “you met your mother, and got to make a home with her. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy that you found her, that you got to talk to her. But you didn’t tell me about meeting her, did you? Shadowsan did.”

Through her left eye, Ivy saw how shocked and sad Carmen looked. Her head willed her to stop, to just leave while Carmen was distracted, but her heart willed her to keep going, to get it all off of her chest. 

“That’s not even mentioning what happened before you came too,” Ivy continued, “both Zack and I were worried sick about you. We didn’t know if you were dead or alive. Then you came back and we were so happy! I was so thankful that you were okay. Then as soon as you came back, you left.”

Ivy felt herself coming off of the adrenaline of getting so angry, she continued with a bit less fury in her words.

“I get it, you had to find yourself. After what they did to you, you needed to remember. But… we could have helped. And… even if you did have to leave,” Ivy paused, feeling the last bit of anger leave her veins, replaced with overwhelming sorrow as she remembered that crumpled note in her desk, “you could have at least said goodbye.”

The piercing silence filled the room again, Ivy standing there, breathing heavily. Carmen was just standing there, looking like a beautiful kicked puppy. The guilt over being so selfish slowly ebbed into Ivy’s mind, making her feel absolutely horrible over exploding at Carmen. She didn’t deserve to have an angry, messed up woman yell at her. Yell at her for essentially being happy. Ivy looked at the ground ashamed, grabbing her own forearms.

“I’m sorry Carmen-”

Ivy’s apology was cut off by Carmen tightly wrapping her arms around Ivy’s shoulders. This made the redhead stumble back a little in surprise, releasing her own forearms.

“Don’t apologize.” Carmen said sternly from where her face was buried in Ivy’s neck, “you always had this horrible habit of never letting yourself feel anything for yourself.”

Ivy’s eyebrows furrowed under her mask, “what-?”

Carmen cut her off again, “I’m sure you were going to apologize for getting mad at me. You’re probably feeling like you’re being selfish for being mad that I left with no goodbye.”

Ivy shook her head in disbelief, “y-yeah, how did you-”

Carmen pulled away to look at Ivy, face so close their noses were almost touching. 

“Don’t be sorry Ivy, you’re right.” Carmen’s gaze dropped to the floor, “we were a family, and I left. Even after I told you that night that I wouldn’t leave you like your parents left you, I still did it. I thought leaving some shitty note made it okay, but the entire time I was in Buenos Aires I felt horrible.”

“Carmen don’t-” 

Carmen’s hand gently covered Ivy’s mouth, “let me finish. I left to find my mother yes, but to also find myself, like you said. I thought I could do that alone, without you or Zack or Shadowsan or my mother. I knew you and Zack would try and stop me from going at it alone, so I wrote that note so I wouldn’t have to tell you.”

Her lavender eyes shifted back to Ivy as her hand dropped back down to fair freckled skin, “ _That_ was selfish. I put my fear over saying goodbye to you over my promise to you that I wouldn’t abandon you. That was wrong.”

Ivy mentally noted how she had dropped Zack from this conversation, and was now just talking about her.

“Ivy, I’m so so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

Ivy threw her arms around Carmen’s shoulders and hugged her so tightly. Carmen gladly reciprocated the hug, burying her head in Ivy’s neck again. 

“I forgive you.” Ivy whispered in Carmen’s neck.

“Are you sure?” Carmen timidly asked.

Ivy hesitated for a moment, was she?

“Yes.” She finally responded, “I think I’ve always wanted to forgive you. I just needed you to ask.”

Carmen pulled away from the hug with a big smile on her face, “I’m going to tell you all about Buenos Aires, but first-”

A slender tan hand stretched towards Ivy expectantly.

“Dance with me?”

Ivy laughed, remembering the first time Carmen had asked her that question in a dressing room.

“You know I don’t know how to dance.”

Without another word, Carmen took Ivy’s hand and led her out of the room they were holed up in. With great skill, the latina woman led Ivy through the crowd of people before leading her all the way to the dance floor just as another waltz started to pick up. Carmen got chillingly close to Ivy’s ear and whispered,

“I’ll lead.”

Cautiously, Ivy placed her hand on Carmen’s shoulder, allowing Carmen to float her slender hand on the small of Ivy’s back. The music started, and they were off. Carmen led Ivy through the waltz immaculately, smiling patiently as Ivy stepped on her toes.

“Sorry” Ivy muttered between stories of Carmen’s mother and her homeland.

“It’s okay,” Carmen smiled back, “oh, and another thing I learned, I’m actually younger than you.”

Ivy’s eyes widened in shock, before laughing “no!”

Carmen nodded proudly, “yep, I’m actually 23 years old, not 24.”

Ivy stared at the older, no, younger woman, “so you were just 19 when you left VILE academy?”

Carmen nodded again, “see, if I did graduate that year they still would have let me graduate early.”

Ivy’s laugh was cut short by the sight of a man on top of the observation balcony. That was him. The VILE operative was a whole 15 minutes early. 

The next few seconds felt like slow motion. The VILE operative locked eyes with her, then he looked at Ivy’s dance partner. Even though Carmen was wearing a mask, the man knew what that signature red meant. He reached into his fancy tuxedo, pulling out something silver that caught the glint of the yellow lights, and aimed it right at Carmen. Without hesitating, Ivy took the lead, flipping spots with Carmen so Ivy’s back was to the operative. 

Before Carmen could even ask what Ivy was doing, a loud piercing bang rang through the ballroom. White hot pain erupted from Ivy’s side, as she just saw red. She felt her knees give out, as she slowly slid to the floor. She thought she heard screaming? Crying maybe? It was loud, she knew that much. Ivy also knew that she was so grateful to talk to Carmen again.

It had been exactly three seconds since Ivy had spoken to Carmen Sandiego, before she closed her eyes. 

When she woke, all she saw was white, and she wasn’t sure when the last time she spoke to Carmen Sandiego was. 

It was extremely bright wherever she was, and cold. Blue eyes couldn’t adjust to the fluorescent lights fast enough. When they did, the eyes recognized the sights of a hospital room. Though, the amount Ivy had visited the hospital she was rarely in the hospital bed herself. Her eyes adjusted enough to tell that there was a red mop of something on the bed with her. Squinting, she saw that the red mop was hair, and it was attached to her little brother, asleep in the plastic chair with his head resting on the bed.

“Zack?” Ivy called out, her voice hoarse from not using it.

In an instant, Zack perked right up looking at his sister with red rimmed eyes, “Ivy!”

Overcome with joy, Zack threw his arms around his sister’s torso, sending white pain up Ivy’s side. The older sibling hissed in pain, causing the younger to immediately retract.

“Sorry Ivy,” Zack smiled sympathetically, “how are you feeling?”

Ivy blinked a couple times, still trying to adjust to her surroundings, “honestly, pretty shitty.”

“Yeah that’s what happens when you get shot, dipshit.” Zack teased with no malice, as siblings do, “what the fuck happened to being safe and coming home?”

Ivy smiled and reached out her hand for her brother to take, “I can’t let you always be the one who gets to do stupid things.”

Zack took his sister's hand in his own, giving it a reassuring squeeze, a version of a great big sibling hug.

“Well getting shot is going to cost you,” Zack used his other hand to tap his finger to his chin like he was calculating something in his head, “now, I get to make the stupid decisions for the next year and a half.”

Ivy laughed, only wincing a little of how it hurt her side all over again, “year and a half? That’s bullshit! That’s three months at most!”

“I can negotiate five months, but that is as low as I will go.” Zack paused, becoming serious again, “seriously Ives, I’m so happy you’re alright. When Julia called me to tell me what happened. Shit, I was losing my fucking mind.”

Ivy felt a small pang of guilt in her chest, “I’m really sorry Zack.” Realization suddenly struck her like a ton of bricks, “Shit! Julia! The mission, I fucked it all up.”

“It was taken care of.” Zack insisted, “the guy was caught and the jewelry was safe.”

Ivy felt herself settle down a little bit, “okay, that’s good.”

“Julia and Chase are out in the waiting room,” Zack continued, “they only let me in because I’m your brother.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” Ivy said sincerely, giving Zack’s hand another squeeze.

A comfortable silence took over the room, and Ivy’s eyelids felt heavy again, she wanted to go back to sleep so badly.

“Hey, don’t go back to sleep, the doc is going to want to talk to you,” Zack said, reading her mind again.

“Entertain me then.” Ivy joked weakly in the bed.

“Well, we could circle back to the last conversation we had,” Zack offered, “how are we feeling about staying at ACME now that you’ve been shot on the job.”

Ivy groaned, “Oh God, do we have to circle back to that?”

“Yeah, we do,” Zack suddenly got quiet, “it wasn’t great thinking for a while that the last conversation with my sister was going to be about how she wasn’t happy.”

“Oh my god,” Ivy whispered, “Zack, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think-”

“You didn’t die though, and now you get to live through this conversation.” Zack offered, “now penny for your thoughts?”

“When I’m dead, they’ll go for a dollar,” Ivy responded, recalling the school yard rhyme she and Zack heard in their younger days, “I’m really… I don’t know.”

“You said you felt like something was missing earlier,” Zack prompted, “start there?”

Ivy bit back a comment about how he really remembered that conversation. If he had almost died, Ivy would have thought about it everyday too.

“Lately I’ve felt like there is something missing in my life,” Ivy admitted fully, “not to say that what I have isn’t good… it’s just like there’s a puzzle that I’m trying to figure out, but I can’t find the missing piece.”

Zack nodded, “have you always felt like this?”

“No,” Ivy answered immediately, “I think it’s a recent feeling.”

“How recent?” Zack asked.

“Like about nine months ago recent.” Ivy admitted.

“When we started working with ACME?” Zack asked. Ivy just stared at the ceiling to the hospital room. Zack seemed to understand what she meant a moment later, “when Carmen left.”

Ivy nodded, “I don’t even know why I feel this way.”

“I might,” Zack stated, before pausing, seemingly choosing his next words very carefully, “do they have anything to do with our old boss?”

“I talked to her, at the party.” Ivy said, artfully dodging Zack’s question.

It worked remarkably well, as Zack’s eyes widened in surprise, “you did?”

“Yeah,” Ivy thought of that time she spent in the storage room with Carmen, “she said she was sorry, by the way, for leaving and not saying goodbye.”

“Wow.” Zack eventually said. Again, the young man seemed to choose his next words carefully, “Ives, you remember in Stockholm, when we brought Carmen to the hospital. You told me you didn’t know how you would live without Carm.”

Ivy swallowed, she could see where this was going.

“Yeah?”

“Did you-” Zack closed his eyes, trying to find the right words, “did you have… feelings for Carmen?”

There was really no point in denying it, Zack had figured it out, fair and square. Even if she tried lying, Zack would be able to see right through it.

“I did.” Ivy admitted, eyes still trained on the ceiling.

“Do you still?”

The last memories Ivy had before going comatose stirred in her mind. Burying her face in Carmen’s neck, Carmen’s hand gracefully floating on the small of her back, the chills of Carmen saying I’ll lead, whipping Carmen around to take a bullet for her. 

“Yeah… I think I do.” Ivy admitted, to herself and to her brother.

“Well, I’m no expert in love, but if you’re looking for a missing piece of some kind,” Zack shrugged, “that doesn’t seem like a bad place to start.”

Ivy nodded, smiling at her brother, “I will.”

Zack took a shaky breath, “I know that we’ve always been together. But if our paths do separate, I’ll be okay. You’ve spent so long looking after me, you deserve to be looked after too.”

Tears leaped to Ivy’s eyes, after nine or so years of taking care of her little brother, she truly realised he didn’t need her to take care of him anymore. She did what her parents didn’t, and now he was ready to leave and do his own thing. He would be okay without her.

“I love you Zack,” Ivy said finally, “if you ever need me, for anything, I’ll always be here, no matter what.”

“I love you too Ives, no matter what.” he echoed. 

Before a comfortable silence could take over, a tall blonde nurse came in to talk to Ivy. She told Ivy what had happened, what they did to help her, mentioned that she had almost died, you know, standard stuff. She was also told that she would have to stay in the hospital for a while. Staying in the plain sterile hospital for any more than 24 hours sounded like torture, but Ivy just nodded and agreed with the nurse. 

The next few days weren’t too bad. Zack had brought Ivy her phone, some books and some electronics to tinker with. Julia had come by a couple times to talk with her, bringing along Chase with her few of those times. Ivy had to note that, despite being in the hospital for five days (two unconscious, three conscious) Carmen had not come to visit her once. The quiet times between visitors allowed Ivy to think about what Carmen’s absence could possibly mean. 

Her phone buzzed in the afternoon of her sixth day in the hospital. An unknown number. Curiously, Ivy opened her phone to read the message. 

**Hey Ivy, it’s Player. Carmen does not currently have a phone right now, hers ended up at the bottom of the Nile River. She told me to tell you that she’s sorry for not visiting, but she’ll see you soon.**

**Also, hi, we haven’t talked in a while**

**Also, also, you and Carmen are so cute**

**Also, also, also, don’t bother texting this number back, because it won’t reach me.**

Ivy smiled at Player’s messages, even though the last one seemed a little cryptic. She couldn’t hear him speaking, but his writing sounded a lot like how he did talk. Through her joy, Ivy had wondered what ‘she’ll see you soon’ meant. Shrugging it off, Ivy turned in the hospital bed to go to sleep. The next day she could go home from the hospital, and hopefully could see Carmen again.

The morning came swiftly after Ivy had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, Jules, Chase and Zack were called away on important ACME business the previous night, leaving Ivy to check out of the hospital herself. Luckily, before Zack had left for whatever country he was needed in, he left a change of clothes for Ivy. A blue shirt and denim jeans, way more comfortable than the dress that she had worn that night to the masquerade. Though her chest did pang over the thought the intricate dress was probably ruined.

Breathing in the Paris air, while not as crisp and clean as the countryside’s air, still felt like brand new air to Ivy. The euphoria of being released after seven days in a hospital wore off as Ivy started to work through how she was going to get home. Sighing, Ivy looked around for a cab to take her to the airport, where there was hopefully a plane that went non-stop back to her home in the states. Before she was able to flag down a cab, Ivy felt a warm hand on her upper bicep. Normally, Ivy would grab the stranger’s hand and bend it backward in self defense, but Ivy knew who that hand belonged to. And she was no stranger.

“Hi Carmen.” Ivy turned around, savoring how her name felt on her lips.

“Hi Ivy,” Carmen beamed at the redhead, “I’m so sorry I didn’t visit. I was kind of preoccupied.”

“Preoccupied dropping your phone into the Nile river?” Ivy asked with a smirk.

“Geez I told Player not to tell you that,” Carmen rubbed the back of her neck nervously, “but yeah, that’s what I was up to. Sorry, again.”

“It’s okay, I get it.” Ivy said, and she meant it truly, “so what are you doing in Paris anyway?”

“Well, other than visiting you? Not much.” Carmen slipped her hands into the pockets of her hoodie, “I have something I need to give back to you.”

Ivy scrunched her brows in confusion, she hadn’t let Carmen borrow anything recently, “what is that?”

Carmen turned to walk away, “I guess you’re going to have to follow me to find out.”

Of course Ivy went to follow Carmen, she would follow that woman to the ends of the earth. She has followed Carmen to the ends of the Earth. 

Walking around Paris with Carmen was easy, laughing and talking just like they had done in the past. Conversations about lost time between the two of them flew easily, Carmen telling Ivy all about the children in her mother’s orphanage. Ivy told Carmen all of the goings on in ACME and all the missions she had been on where Carmen didn’t make an appearance.

“Isn’t this information supposed to be classified?” Carmen had teased Ivy over the rim of her coffee cup.

Ivy rolled her eyes, “you and I both know that if you wanted to know what ACME was doing, Player would find out for you. And it probably wouldn’t be hard.”

Carmen hummed, “true. Speaking of which, has Chief ever figured out that you and Zack were the ones to mess up her latte that first time I met up with her in Seattle?”

Ivy squinted, “I don’t think so. I really never noticed how much we blended into the background of your cappers. Every now and then Chase and I will be talking and suddenly he’ll drop what he was saying and go ‘you were the one driving that snowmobile in Vermeer!’”

Carmen laughed, “really? Has he remembered all of those times yet?”

Ivy thought for a moment, “hmmm, nope. I don’t think he’s brought up the time Zack was the tour guide in Venice, and he hasn’t brought up seeing either of us in London.”

“Why don’t you just tell him?” Carmen asked between laughing fits.

Ivy just shrugged, “it’s funnier to let him remember on his own.”

Night began to fall on the city, and the lights on every street soon began to illuminate the world around Ivy. Once the dark blue blanket fully settled over the city, Carmen led Ivy to a large beautiful chateaux. 

“What is this place?” Ivy asked, watching as Carmen made quick work of unlocking the door with what Ivy hoped was a key.

“Countess Cleo’s old chateaux, it’s pretty much empty at this point.” Carmen explained, popping the door open, “after you.”

Warily, Ivy stepped into the large building and followed Carmen all the way up the stairs to the top floor. The chateaux was, in fact, empty save for a record player on a small table across the room. The room itself had huge windows spanning from the floor to the ceiling, which itself was glass. Through the lights of the city, Ivy could make out some bright stars of the sky. The view of the city was truly unmatched, every light danced and twinkled through the windows. While the city itself was quite noisy, the closed chateaux was quiet. 

“Wow,” was all Ivy could muster.

“This isn’t what I wanted to give back to you,” Carmen admitted behind Ivy.

“And what was it that you-” Ivy’s words were cut short when her eyes landed on Carmen, who was holding a rather large box, “is that a bomb Carmen?”

Carmen laughed, all honey and sunshine, “no, it’s not a bomb. Open it.”

Cautiously, Ivy took the box from Carmen and unraveled the bow on top. The lid came off very slowly and the redhead peaked inside. Her teal green dress stared back at her, looking in positively brand new condition. Almost as if Ivy had never been almost fatally shot in it.

“What- how?” Ivy managed to spit out.

“Julia actually told me about it,” Carmen admitted, “the hospital was going to just throw it away, since you had almost bled out in it, and they had to cut you out of it.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured happened to it,” Ivy said, carefully pulling it out of the box, “what I meant is how does it look like none of that happened to it at all?”

“Countess Cleo’s class was more than just picking out the perfect dress, it taught us how to fix our dresses too.” Carmen took the box from Ivy as the older of the two stared at the teal green fabric.

“I really liked this dress.” Ivy eventually admitted, “thank you.”

“You.. you looked really good in that dress.” Carmen confessed, and if Ivy didn’t know any better, she would have thought Carmen was blushing, “besides, you owe me a dance.”

Ivy’s heart started beating out of her chest, she felt like she was actually dreaming.

Carmen took Ivy’s stunned silence as a yes, “I’m going to go change, I’ll be back.”

Ivy’s masquerade mask was not in the box, which she was grateful for, since she couldn’t see out of that thing anyway. Well, she saw out of it just enough to see the operative on the balcony. Shaking that thought off, Ivy noticed neither the heels that she wore with the dress originally were also not in the box. So she ended up kicking off her sneakers and standing barefoot on the tile floor. Carmen came back into the room in a similar state, no mask and no shoes.

“Sorry, I forgot about the shoes.” Carmen admitted as she put on a record.

Ivy smiled, “it’s fine, it’s easier to dance this way anyway.”

The music began filling the empty chateaux, and Carmen reached her hand out to Ivy.

“Dance with me?”

This time, Ivy had no objections, “yes.”

And so they spun around the empty chateaux, the sounds of an orchestra filled the room gently. The lights of Paris reflected against the golden embellishments of Carmen’s dress, and made the latina’s eyes sparkle like the stars above. Ivy’s heart fluttered as Carmen brought her closer to her by pulling the shorter’s waist forward. Every now and then when the music fluttered, Carmen would spin Ivy around in a circle before falling back into the steady beat of one-two-three. Eventually the music ran out, and the two were left standing in the middle of the chateaux breathing heavily from dancing. Carmen’s face was incredibly close to Ivy’s, so close that the shorter could feel the steady breaths of the other on her face. 

Carmen spoke before Ivy could give in and close the gap between their mouths.

“Why did you take the lead last week?” Carmen asked suddenly

The shorter woman hoped Carmen couldn’t see how nervous she had gotten. Honestly, Ivy had kind of been satisfied with the fact that she would take the knowledge that she took a bullet for Carmen to her grave.

Still Carmen pressed on, “you saw that operative, didn’t you?”

Ivy closed her eyes, remembering the split second decision. Her body seemed to move of its own accord, taking a literal bullet for Carmen.

“I did.” Ivy admitted finally, and before she could stop she added “I would do it again.”

“Why?” 

That one word was such a loaded question. Ivy knew the answer to it, because she loved Carmen. She had admitted it to herself and to her brother. This moment with Carmen so close to her was so nice, so wonderful. Ivy would ruin it all by admitting how she really felt. There was really no better time to come clean though, to get it all off her chest. To get that last piece of information she held close to her chest out in the open.

“I-” Ivy opened her eyes, Carmen was still so close to her, eyes so grey they seemed lavender. Ivy could look in those eyes all day and never get bored. It was now or never.

“I… because I,” Ivy swallowed, bracing for this to all be over, “I love you.”

Carmen moved forward to close the gap between their lips. Immediately, Ivy felt that a fire was lit right inside her, electricity shot up her spine as she closed her eyes and kissed Carmen back. On instinct, Ivy brought her hand up from where it rested on Carmen’s shoulder to cup her cheek. Ivy gasped when Carmen brought both of her slender hands to the small of Ivy’s back to push her in closer. 

After a few moments of pure bliss, Carmen pulled back and rested her forehead on Ivy’s.

“I love you too,” Carmen said breathlessly, “I’m so sorry it took me leaving to realize it.”

“I’ll forgive you if you kiss me again.” Ivy said, her Boston accent thicker in her dazed state.

Luckily, Carmen had four years of deciphering Ivy and Zack’s thick Boston accents, so she knew exactly what Ivy was saying. She quickly obliged, pressing her red lips to Ivy’s again. Giddily, Ivy’s hand flew behind Carmen’s neck to stable herself, thumbs grazing Carmen’s jawline as she smiled into Carmen’s mouth. Chills ran up and down her spine when Carmen’s hands went to tangle in her own red orange hair. Carmen completely tangled her hands in the short tendrils, smiling when Ivy let out a sigh of contentment. Eventually, Ivy pulled away.

Before going back to Carmen’s lips, Ivy blurted out, “I’ve really liked you since Stockholm.”

That statement seemed to pull Carmen out of whatever trance she was in.

“That long?” Carmen eventually asked.

Her tone was almost undefinable, maybe concerned?

Ivy suddenly felt very self conscious about ruining the moment, “Um, yeah. It honestly freaked me out a little. I had known I was gay for a while but I’ve never really felt that way about anyone. Then I saw you in that hospital bed, and I just… realized my life wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“And then I left you.” Carmen admitted guiltily.

“If it makes you feel better,” Ivy supplied lightly, “I was really good at suppressing those feelings.”

“I swear,” Carmen got really close to Ivy’s face, so they were nose to nose, “I will never stop trying to make that up to you.”

“You don’t have to-” 

The shorter woman’s gentle affirmations were lost as the taller pressed their lips together for a third time. The third time was just as great as the first and second, Ivy noted. She was almost positive the fifth, sixth, and seventh would be just as good. As wonderful this feeling felt, finding her missing piece, a flight back to the States still tugged at the redhead’s mind.

“I have to get home Carm.” Ivy said against Carmen’s lips. 

“You’ll beat Zack home,” Carmen said confidently, “he, Julia, and Chase are currently looking for a stash of stolen VILE artwork in Egypt in the Nile Valley region.”

“You mean the artwork that you already recovered?” Ivy asked with a knowing smirk.

Carmen shrugged, “oops, I forgot to tell them I already handled it.” Carmen leaned in close to Ivy’s ear in the way that made Ivy’s heart go nuts, “are you gonna take me back to my hotel room or what?”

“Go grab your shoes.” Ivy commanded, bounding over to the side of the room where her clothes waited.

“Oh so bossy, you tell her she’s actually older than you and suddenly she’s all knowing!” Carmen called with feigned hurt.

“Hilarious.” Ivy called back sarcastically.

The next morning, wrapped up in Carmen’s arms, Ivy reflected on what she wanted in life. The thought of cars still beckoned, the idea of roller coasters still thrilled, the ACME pen still blinked expectantly, but the note in her desk drawer no longer burned unpleasantly. 

Instead, Carmen’s arms warmed her freckled shoulders.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Also shout out to me for not writing anything for a year lol. Hope you enjoyed.


End file.
